Power-transmitting mechanism



E. B. ALLEN.

EOWER TRANSMITTING MECHANISM. APPLICATJON FILED APR. 14, 1919. RENEWEDJUNE 14. 1920.

1 372 475 Patented Mar. 22 1921/ 2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

WITNESSES; lNVENTOR QQM. Mm) 2M fl QLL JM M ATTORNEY E. B. ALL EN. POWERTRANSMITTING MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED APR. I4, 1,372,475.

ATTORNEY 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Patented Mar. 22 1921 IIIIIIIIII U WITNESSES:

MQQ-J Q UNITED sTA ss PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD B. ALLEN, or BRIIDGEPORT, conn'no'rrourr, ASSIGNOR r0 THE SINGERMANUFACTURING COMPANY, A oonronarron or NEW JERSEY.

POWER-TRANSMITTING MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 22, 1921.

Application filed April 14, 1919, Serial No. 289,851. Renewed June 14,1920. Serial No. 389,005.

5 '0 all to hem it 'nmy 00mm;

lie it known that l, lilnwam) l5. ALLEN, a citizen of the United States,reslding at Bridgeport, in the county of Fairlield and State ofllonnecticut, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Power'lransmitting Mechanisms, of which the iollowing is a specification,reterence bemg had therein to the accompanying drawings.

in the sewing rooms of garment t'actories it is common practice toarrangethc sewing machines in rows at opposite sides of so-callcdpower-tables; the machlnes being spaced apart along the tables andbelted up to driving pulleys arranged at intervals along line-shaftsdisposed length wise of and beneath the tables. To meet the requirementsof factory inspectors, a powertable is usually provided with suitablescreens or protective devices which close ofl' the space below thetable-top and. ob struct access by the machine operators to theline-shafts, pulleys, belts, or other powertransmission deviceswConsequently the driving pulleys on the line-shaft are permanentlybelted to the respective driving automatic buttonhole sewing macl'iines,it is necessary to turn the machines over by hand until the parts are inaccessible positions.

essary to throw oll the driving belt and trip the stop-motion before themachine can be turned over by hand to threading position. the machineoperatorsto much inconvenience and has occasioned the loss of much time,to say nothing of the well known dangers mcident to working with thedriving In the case of an automatic machine controlled by a stop-motlondevice, it is new This necessity has, in the past, put

mechanism below a' power-table While the line-shaft is in motion.

The object of the present invention is to provlde a power'table of theclass described with means readily accessible to the operator of a givenmachine whereby the driving relation between the driving pulley on theline-shaft and the belt normally driven thereby may be quickly, safelyand conven- 1ently lnterrupted or established, without necessltatmgremoval or displacement 01'' any of the par-ts of the protectivescreening with which such tables are usually equipped.

A further object oi? the invention is to provide a power-table withmeans conveniently. accessible to the operator whereby the drlvlng beltmay be thrown of]? of the driving a pulley and relieved of tensilestresses, or thrown onto said driving pulley, and reta ned in eitherposition without further attention on the part of the opcraton Stillfurther, the invention has for an object to provide powear-transmittingmech anism of the character described which may be readily installed andoperated regardless of the direction of rotation olthe powershaft.

Furtherobjects of the invention will. appear from the followingdescription and claims. 7

The objects ottheinvention are attained by the present constructionwherein the drlvmg' pulley is formed with a belt-groove and carrles abelt-retaining guide-ring or a plate which is parallel to and spacedfrom the driving pulley, whereby the belt may contract somewhat andassume a loose position when thrown from the driving pullevq yet will beretained in a position favorable to the ready restablishment of drivingrelation between said pulley and belt. In the present nstance a manuallycontrolled beltshlfting device is provided for throwing the belt onto oroil of the driving pulley. To facilitate the shifting of the belt, thepulley is provided with a radial, outwardly projecting, belt-catchingtooth. The beltshifting device includes a belt-shifting guide andadjustable supporting means therefor afiording capacity for installationand ad- ]ustlnent to operative position either in front of or behind thepower-shaft, as the direction (if rotation of the latter may in dicate.These parts are disposed mainly Within the protected space beneath thetable-top and are connected with an operating handle accessibleexteriorly of said space or, in other words, at the front or" the table.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l r is a side elevation of aportion of a powertable embodying the invention. Fig. 2 is a fragmentarytransverse vertical section through the power-table. Fig. 3 is asectional view of the pulley taken on the line 3-3-of Fig. 1. F ig; a isa cross section of the pulley taken on .the line dl, of Fig. 3. Fig. 5-is a perspective view of one of two similar disks for adjustablycarrying the belt-shifting guides.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, as illustrated, thepower-table comprises a table-top l and the usual supporting means 2carrying the shaft-hanger 3 in which is journaled the constantly runningdriving or power-shaft 4; said shaft being disposed beneath and.lengthwise of the table-top in the customary manner disclosed, forexample, in United States Patent to H. Eichhorn and R. Becker, No.1,223,681, of'April 2d, 1917. In practice the powertable supports tworows of machines, one row at each side of the table, and each machine isdriven from its individual driving pulley on the line shaft 4:. However,inasmuch as the various driving connections between the line-shaft andany one of the machines are merely duplicates of similar drivingconnections for the various other machines, a. description of a singledriving unit will suffice for the purposes of the present disclosure.

Clamped to the line-shaft4 is the split pulley 5 having a deep V-shapedbeltgroove 6, one of the side walls 7 of which is cut away at 88 tofacilitate passage of the belt onto and off or" the pulley when rotatedin'either direction. A radially extending belt-catching tooth 9 issecured to the side wall 7 of the belt-groove between the recesses 8S.This tooth is bent outwardly, away from the pulley; as shown in Fig. 1.Fixed to the pulley 5 are the spacing studs 10 which support thebelt-retaining disk or plate 11 in parallel relation to the pulley.

Supported on the table-top l is a machine 12 to be driven; theparticular machine illustrated being an automatic buttonhole sewingmachine of the type represented in my Patent No. 1,24%,642, of Sept. 18,1917.

' or in my copending application Serial Nol 204, 8 12, filed Oct. 1,1917. Machines of this type embody the usual start and stop-motiondevice 13 for controlling the period of action of the. stitch-formingmechanism including the reciprocating needle 4%. The start andstop-motion device 13 includes a loose pulley 1 1 which heretofore hasbeen permanently bolted to the driving pulley and consequently wasforced to run continuously even though the particular machine was not inuse.

In the present instance the pulley 14 is connected by the belt 15,running over idlers 16, to the driving pulley 5. W hen shifted tonon-running position the belt lies loosely in the space between thepulley 5 and retainlng plate 11, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. In

this position the belt is held out of the range of the belt-catchingtooth 9 by means of the belt-shifting guide 17 adjustably mounted in asocketed holder 17 which, in turn, is adjustably mounted upon theupwardly and rearwardly extending rod l7 the lower end of which is fixedin an apertured edgewise projecting lug 17 of a disk 17 bolted flutwiseagainst the circular car 17" at the free end of the carrier-bar 18. Thebar 18 is pivoted at 19, 19, to the upstanding parallel links 20 whichat their lower ends are fixed to pivot pins 21 j ournalcd in theupstanding ears 22 of the base-plate .5 screwed to the floor f.

Secured to one of the pivot pins 21 is an arm 24; which is connected bymeans of the link 25 and bell-crank 26 with the inner end of a rod 27,the outer end of which is bent to the form of a handle 28 disposedbeneath the edge of the table exteriorly of the protccted space belowthe table-top defined bv theguard s. I

To determine the limits of movement 01 the belt-shifter in eitherdirection, the hub of the arm 21 is formed with a short arm 29 theextremity of: which is adapted to strike one or the other of thestop-screws 30 carried by the base 23.

Whenever use of the machine is to be dis continued for a time, theoperator pushes the rod 27 inward. thus shifting the belt 15 out of thebelt-groove G of the drivii'ig pulley 5 and into the space between thepulley 5 and he belt-retaining disk 11.; the belt being held beyond thepath of movement of the belt catching tooth 9 by the belt-guide 17. Byvirtue of the use of the parallel links 20 the belt-shifting guide 17supported thereby will partake of a movement 01: trans ation. Thus therunning and non-running positions in the belt-shifting guide 17 will beparallel to each other.

A. leaf-spring 31 secured to the under side of the table-top 1 bearsyieldingly upon the rod 27 to hold the belt-shitting device in eitherrunning or non-running position with the arm 29 in engagement with oneor the other of the stops 30. The operator may therefore leave themachine with the belt disconnected from the constantly runningline-shaft 4c which. at the time, may be driving various other machines.

In the particular structure chosen for the llll llU

lib

purpose of this disclosure, the machine 12 is provided with a shaft 32for operating the buttonhole cutting mechanism with 38 is ofsubstantially the same construction" as the pulley 5 hereinbeioredescribed, and comprises the belt-catching tooth 39 and thebelt-retaining disk 40. The belt 87 is shifted. onto or off of thepulley 39 by means of a belt-guide 4L1 which is constructed andadjustably carried by the carrier-bar 18 in the same manner as thebeltshifting guide 1'? previously described. translatory movement of thecarrier 19 there is no objectionable tilting of the belt-shifting guides17 and d1 carried thereby, even though such guides are spaced. apart aconsiderable distance along the shaft 4.

in the event that the shaft 4 is driven in the reverse direction, thebelt-shifting guides and supporting devices can readily be in stalled inrear of the shaft 4 and adjusted to operative position; the provision ofthe similar disks l7, rods 17 and holders 17- permitting readyinstallation and adjustment oi? the belt-shifting guides to operativep0sition relative to the driving pulleys'whether placed in front of orbehind the shaft 4. The driving pulleys having their belt-"catchingteeth disposed radially and provided with recesses at opposite sides ofsaid teeth, will catch and throw on the respective driving belts whenrotated in either direction.

l-laving thus set forth the nature of the invention, what I claim hereinis 1. In power-transmitting mechanism, in combination, a driven pulley,a grooved driving pulley, a belt connection between said pulleys, abelt-retainer spaced from said driving pulley, a belt-catching toothprojecting laterally toward said belt'retainer, and a belt-shittingdevice for throwing the belt onto the driving pulley or into the spacebetween said driving pulley and belt-retainer.

2. In power-transmitting mechanism, in combination, a driven pulley, agrooved driving pulley, a belt connection. between said pulleys, abelt-retainer spaced from said driving pulley, a belt-catching toothprojecting laterally toward said belt-retai11er,a belt-shifting devicefor throwing the belt onto the driving pulley or into the space be tweensaid driving pulley and belt-1:etaincr. and means for detaining thebelt-shitting device in either running or non-running position.

By virtue of the belt-shitting device in elwa either of sald stops.

3. In power-transmitting mechanism, in combination, a driven pulley, agrooved driving pulley, a belt connection between said pulleys, abelt-retaining ring spaced from said driving pulley, a beltcatchingtooth carried by said pulley and projecting laterally toward saidbelt-retaining ring,

anda belt-shitting device for throwing the I belt onto the drivingpulley or into the 1 space between said driving pulley and beltretainingring. 1

4t. In power-transnnttlng mechanism, in

combination a driven mile 7 a o'roovcd driving pulley, a belt connectionbetween said pulleys, a belt-retaining ring in the iiorm of a plate-likedisk parallel to and spaced from said driving pulley, a beltcatchingtooth carried by said pulley and projecting laterally toward said beltretaining dish, a beltshizlting device for throw ing the belt onto thedriving pulley or into the saace between said drivinc' Julie andbelt-retaining plate, stops tor limiting movement of the belt shiftingdevice in either direction, and means for holding the cement with 5. Inpower-transmitting mechanism, a .i.r1ven pulley, a grooved .drlvingpulley having a belt-catching tooth, a belt connection between saidpulleys, a belt-shitting guide, a guide-carrier, parallel linkspivotally supporting said guide-carrier, and manually controlled meansfor swinging said links. a

6. In power-transmitting, mechanism, a power-shaft, a plurality ofdriving pulleys spaced along said shaft, a. plurality oil driven pulleysbelt connected with their respective driving pulleys, a plurality ofbeltshifting guides, a guide-carrier, parallel links pivotallysupporting said guide-carrier, and manually controlled means iorswinging said links. I

In a power-table, in combination, a table-top, supporting meanstherefor, con stantly running power means journaled beneath the tabletopand including a grooved driving pulley having a laterally project ingbelt-catching tooth, a guard at the front of said table obstructingready access to the power means, a machine to be driven stationed on thetable-top, a belt connection between said machine and the drivingpulley, belt-shifting means stationed mainly in an inaccessible positionbehind said guard and including a manually controlled device extendingthrough said guard and accessible to the operator at the front of thetable, whereby the belt-shifting device may be thrown to running ornon-running position, and means for maintaining the belt-shifting devicein either of the positions to which it may be shifted by the operator.

8. In power-transmitting mechanism, in

combination, a power-shaft, a grooved driving pulley carried by saidpower-shaft and having a belt-catching tooth operative to throw on thebelt when the power-shaft is rotated in either direction, andbelt-shifting mechanism including a belt-shifting gulde and adjustablesupporting devices therefor adapted for installation and adjustment tooperative position at either side of said powershaft.

'9. In power-transmitting mechanism, in combination, a power-shaft, agrooved driving pulleycarried by said shaft, a driven pulley, a beltconnection between said pulleys, said driving pulley having a radialbelt-catching tooth and depressions at opposite sides of said tooth, andbelt-shifting means adapted for cooperation with said pulley to throwthe belt to running or nonrunning position.

10. In power-transmitting mechanism, in

' combination, a power-shaft, a grooved driving pulley carried by saidshaft, a driven pulley, a belt connection between said pulleys, saiddriving pulley having a radial belt-catching tooth and depressions atopposite sides of said tooth, and a belt-shifting guide for controllingthat limb of the belt which runs onto the driving pulley.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

EDWARD B. ALLEN.

